Stumble
by Useless-Materia
Summary: Stumble, v.: 1. To walk or go unsteadily. 2. To slip, fall or blunder. 3. To proceed in a hesitating or bumbling manner. Shikamaru and Ino's courtship would be more aptly described as stumbling. OS, ShikaIno


A/N: So I couldn't help myself. I wrote this story for two other characters, initially, from Dragon Age. But it just seems so ShikaIno that I had to change it.

A good author should never have to explain their work, but whatevs.

Perhaps this is a story about two people trying to find each other over their own assumptions and figuring out how to listen. Or perhaps this is also an exploration in writing that nervous first stage of a relationship, when everyone is still concealing most of their hand, and is too afraid to be the first to give themselves away. As an over-thinker myself, I've done what Ino does here to a much larger extent myself. So I hope there is a level of relatability, and moreso, I hope you enjoy my first ShikaIno from Ino's perspective.

* * *

He'd kissed her for goodness sake. This shouldn't be so weird.

But they had been in the forest, fighting Sound nin. Chouji had struck the final blow, sending the ninja flying against a tree. The sound of splintering wood was the only warning she got as the chain reaction sent the tree crashing down in her direction. It was unexpected and with her back turned and mind exhausted, Ino didn't have time to react. But Shikamaru did that for her.

Her teammate had leapt at her, tackling her out of the way as the trunk collided with the earth. And Shikamaru collided with her. His body, she was reminded, was none-too-soft. Especially smashed against her at top speeds. On top of that, she'd hit the ground pretty hard beneath him. And so now on top of _her_ was a heavy warrior… with sharp brown eyes, full of worry.

Four brown eyes, in fact… she shut her own against the double vision and the pounding in her head.

"Are you all right?" His voice washed over her and the open concern in it made her shiver. She opened her eyes again.

He was so close. His face less than a foot away from her own. Yes, her spine hurt – well, her whole body hurt, actually. And yes, the metal button on his pants was biting into her pelvis. And yes she'd had the wind knocked out of her.

But part of her breathing problem came from the nearness of this man who had kissed her just two days ago. And hadn't made another move since.

Potent memories of that semi-awkward parting at her doorstep sunk heavily into the foreground of her conscious – the way he'd hung around for a second too long after his call of goodnight; the way she'd opened her mouth to question him only to have his slightly chapped lips overtake her own; the way his knuckles brushed across her cheek in a whisper of adoration; and the way it had all been over before she could register it. It had been as though she was two seconds behind – barely keeping up with reality.

Because he'd told her… he'd told her he liked her. And wanted to see her. Take her somewhere, if it wasn't too troublesome. They had blushed like awkward school children, her head spinning as she'd told him she'd like that.

But there had only been this mission. There had been no date - not yet, and he had done nothing since. But still, he _had _kissed her_. _So maybe that's why she felt so, _so _awkward. And why perhaps now she still felt as though reality was one step ahead of her.

_"Ino? Are you alright?!" _ Apparently she was taking too long to answer. Had it been a long time? He was officially distracting. Or maybe it was that damn button of his, still digging into her hip. Sure. Maybe. Her head was fuzzy. _Let's blame that.__  
_

"Yes…sorry, I'm fine. Although I wish you didn't have those pants."

Shikamaru's faced flushed and he turned his head to the side and cleared his throat. "Ah… erm. Seems you hit your head harder than I thought."

Ino realized the double meaning of her words and blushed from head to toe.

"Ah, I meant, oh Shikamaru, I didn't mean it that way! Not that… not that I _don't_ want you on top of me, I just meant that your button is cutting into my skin and it's uncomfortable."

Well now she'd made it worse. _Just keep your mouth shut, Ino, you are saying too many things! _She was staring up at him, horrified at herself, and could both hear and see as Shikamaru swallow thickly as he nodded, glanced down her body, and then abruptly looked away. "I see. Sorry, I'll-" He went to push himself up on his knees, but a sharp tugging on her skirt made her cry out to stop him.

"Oh! I think you're – I think you're stuck on my-"

"Ah. Sorry- let me-"

"No, I'll-"

And his hands bumped against hers as awkwardly as their fragmented sentences had while they both reached to try and untangle his belt and her skirt. In their fumbling, her fingers grazed against his crotch for a split second and a bolt of adrenalin rushed through her – guilty proximity and embarrassed horror. She ripped her hand away as if she'd been scalded and covered her mouth as her face surely burned crimson. "I'm sorry!" She squeaked out.

He cleared his throat again.

"It's no- uh, no big… I'll just…"

"Yeah, you just…"

The awkwardness was an anchor and they were sinking… sinking… sinking…

She gave up the task to him and let her head plunk back down against the earth with a groan. It was better to focus on fighting the redness in her face and the pounding in her head than do anything that would make this situation worse. Somewhere in the back of her mind it registered that Chouji seemed to have vanished. Well good. He was often too smart for _her_ own good, but this time she had to applaud his sense of propriety. The less people who saw this, the better. Ino was certain she couldn't be more embarrassed.

...Or turned on.

Shikamaru's fingers brushed against her stomach softly, where the fabric met her skin, as he gently tried to unhook his belt without damaging her skirt. His touches were barely there but they elicited electricity all the more for it. She couldn't help it, she'd been thinking about him nonstop since that night; the future held such promise, and happiness seemed like such a sure thing. But then he'd never followed through and her doubts began to fester.

But here she was, lying on the ground beneath him, trying to simultaneously catch her breath and enjoy the guilty rush of his touch. She closed her eyes, imagining…

And then he was done.

"Ino?"

Her eyes snapped open and he was kneeling over her, one hand in the dirt beside her head, the other reaching out towards her face. As her gaze hit his, the hand retreated – was it possible that he looked both reluctant and embarrassed? _Oh… collect yourself, Ino._

"Can you stand?"

"Yes. I, uh. I'm fine." He reached out to help her now, and they stood together. She blamed the dizziness on the fall, rather than her anxiety about what would happen next.

So she began to brush off the dust, fully intending to avoid eye contact for another awkward spell, but Shikamaru resolutely stepped towards her and cupped her face, finishing his uncompleted action from earlier. He turned her head gently this way and that, eyes locked on to hers, checking her pupils for a concussion.

A shiver shot through her, and she didn't break his gaze. She wondered if he'd felt it; but he just stared at her analytically as he said, "How is your head?"

She shook it quickly and ignored the jolt of pain. "It's fine. I'm fine. And I, uh, I didn't thank you. For the tree – for saving me. So… Thank you." He nodded and took a step back, releasing her face; her gaze immediately dropped to her feet and they both stood there in silence.

By all that was good and holy, what was wrong with her?! She was acting so unlike herself!

But Shikamaru's kiss last week had done something to her. And in his inaction, that something had stewed. She'd mulled over the possibilities a million times and only come up with this:

FACT: he hadn't asked her to go out yet, despite stating that he intended to do so.

1. maybe that was because he'd changed his mind – no, he seemed to still like her, so  
2. maybe it was supposed to be her job to take the next step? Or  
3. she was reading him all wrong and any sign of him still liking her was his awkwardness about his chickening out and deciding to back down. Or, of course,  
4. She was crazy and over-analyzing everything while completely missing some obvious answer that just hadn't presented itself to her overworked brain.

She was exhausted from thinking about it. All she knew for sure was that her unsaid and unfulfilled desires were mounting inside of her and tying her in knots.

"Don't mention it. Sorry you hit your head." His response was slow and he was staring off into the distance, avoiding her gaze too.

She decided victory was for the bold and being tangled didn't suit her. Turning to face him, she folded her arms across her chest in her best no-nonsense pose and declared, more boldly than she felt,

"You should kiss me again."

His eyes snapped to meet hers, wide and blinking.

"You know. To _really_ apologize."

He opened his mouth to respond but she blundered on.

"Or because you saved me. As a knight-in-shining-armor kinda thing."

The shadow of a smile darted across his face.

"Aren't those usually mutually exclusive reasons?"

She shrugged and pretended she couldn't feel the blood pounding behind her ears.

"Not with you, apparently. So just chose your favorite. I'm not picky."

He stepped closer, scoffing slightly.

"That's such a lie."

She huffed, hands on her hips. "I'll have you know-"

But he swept in and captured her mouth with his, hands sliding up to tangle in her hair.

And her unfinished sentence was overtaken by the heady rush of being kissed so soundly by the boy who had always been _right there_ her entire life.

Needless to say, this kiss was better choreographed than the first.

When they parted, he stepped back slightly to hold her hands. She smiled up and him and he returned it, sighing, "Finally. Now can you be less awkward around me?"

She scoffed on instinct and replied, "Me awkward? What about you?"

He took a step back and let go of her hands. "What _about_ me?"

She clenched her fists against the vulnerability that blossomed from the sudden lack of contact. Attempting to keep the quiver from her voice at the irrational importance of it all, she said, "I was only awkward because you were _supposed_ to ask me out and then didn't! What was I supposed to think?"

He snorted, and threw back: "Ask you – ? I already did! It was you who needed to-" But she rolled her eyes at his grumpy expression and cut him off with a sweep of her arm.

"You said you wanted to ask me someplace nice - you never did that! I've been waiting and you did nothing!" Where had this gone wrong? When did this become closer to fighting?

He raked his hand through his hair, frustration palpable, eyes riveted to the dirt, and almost yelled, "I was waiting for _you!"_ His tone and frustration cut her to the quick, and she took a step back, folding her arms defensively.

"You're not supposed to _argue _with a damsel in distress, Shikamaru." Even she could hear the pout in her own tone even as she tried to joke, and hoped he couldn't also hear the not-too-distant approach of tears in her words. This was not how she'd pictured any of this.

Turning back around, she tried to compose herself and begin again: "And furthermore-" but he stepped forward and took her face in his hands once more.

Her words evaporated and she searched for an answer in his eyes. This time there was no analytical stare; instead, she found the look of a man reeling and hurting for it too, same as her. She opened her mouth to start the road to an apology when he beat her to it.

"I'm sorry, Ino. Neither of us meant to hurt each other. And yet this became a fight somehow. I never wanted that." She shook her head slightly, head tilting to lean into his embrace.

"I didn't either. Why did this get so complicated?"

He shrugged one shoulder and gave a half-hearted grin. "Because we're us, I guess. But I'm not mad. Not at you."

She stuck her lip out and half whispered, "Well _I_ am." Because she still felt vulnerable and shaken. It was a blow to think things were finally turning around, only to find a fight.

He brushed his thumbs against her cheeks softly and mumbled, "Please don't be mad at me, Ino." She shut her eyes for a second and took a shaky breath. When she opened them, she didn't meet his gaze, but she did reach up to tentatively grasp his wrists.

"Well... only a little, now. And anyway, I'm mad at _me_ too." He chuckled and she found herself pleasantly surprised at how gentle and affectionate he was capable of being. _He really does like me._

"Don't be mad at _you,_ Ino." She looked up at the handsome face of her teammate and confidante, and felt like bursting, with happiness, frustration, sexual tension -

"Well then what do I be mad at?! How am I supposed to feel about this if not mad!?" She was proud of the fact that no tears fell as she finished her sudden tirade.

But Shikamaru merely wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. And the tension strung into her questions left as she wrapped her arms up to grip his shoulders. She wondered if he just didn't have the words - if he was just trying to show her how he felt and didn't know how to get out of this predicament any better than she. And then it occurred to her that a man who cared about her this much would help her work at it. Because he was right: it wouldn't always be easy, because they were them. But she was willing to try and it seemed he was too.

So she let go of her final confession in an out-pour of breath. "Okay, maybe not mad, just... disappointed I guess. It's just that it was supposed to go so _differently..."_ she clenched fistfuls of his vest in her fists and mumbled, finally, "I've wanted this for this for a long time, you know."

Shikamaru pulled back to look and her, and as frank and plain as can be, replied, "Me too."

And then his face broke into a slight grin and with a warmth in his tone that made her toes curl, he said, "Let's just start over from here." And Shikamaru leaned in once more and ended their conversation with a kiss.

And Ino thought this was a perfect second... er, third beginning.

* * *

A/N: I don't know how I feel about the abrupt ending, but maybe I'll tweak it over time. For now I just want it posted.


End file.
